Politics, publishers & Money.
Has there ever been a time when it was different? The rich are always with us. Kings and queens, shaping the lives, and often deaths, of the working class. Royalty has always had advisers, experts, specialists and priests. Nothing has changed except the wardrobes. Last U.S. priest was Billy Graham – at times had almost total access the White House. “God has made this man our president,” he declared over three consecutive presidents. “God’s will,” he said, determined who would be elected. “God’s will.” I love that kind of talk . . . been said for ages. I remember Eric Berne, (Transactional Analysis, Games People Play). His description of jazz: “Sounds good, means nothing.”
Medieval royalty hired brutes for body guards, now we have lawyers, and still a few brutes as well I suppose. Our modern kings and queens have shed the weight of crowns, prefer to live in opulence behind the scenes, surrounded by those eager to encourage favor, lavishing gifts in hope of requests granted. But why bother gift shopping? Cash is better and more portable . . . checks delivered by lobbyists.
“So far only corporate lobbyists have had access to the negotiations: from Monsanto to Nestlé, corporations are all scuttling around Brussels to get their agenda into the treaties. European citizens have teamed up with more than 250 partner organizations across the European Union to form the self-organized, EU-wide citizens’ initiative against TTIP and CETA.”
Good luck with that. Don’t count on it.
They’ve privatized the railroads here. Yesterday the trains stopped running, again, in Sweden. This has happened two or three times since I’ve been here – a little over a year. Thousands stranded in Stockholm. People trying to get somewhere for the weekend. They’re also privatizing schools.
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